FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT HANUKKAH - PAGE 3

All these decades later, the infectious sound of a Salvation Army brass band still stirs up audible memories of a perplexing refrain of my youth. "But you have Hanukkah," our parents would say whenever they'd catch me or my kid brother longing after the forbidden fruit of Christmas. For instance, if we'd rush to the window, having heard carolers strolling the street and proclaiming "Joy To to the World." In those days, people still did that, even in a big-city neighborhood like added Chicago's Chicago's Albany Park.

Frying food in large quantities of oil may be nutritionally taboo most of the time, but during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which begins this year at sundown on Wednesday, there's no way around it. Also called Festival of Lights, Hanukkah commemorates a miracle that occurred when the Maccabees defeated the Syrians 2100 years ago and one day's worth of sanctified oil in the Temple in Jerusalem lasted eight days and nights. So the holiday traditionally is celebrated with fare that is fried in oil, making it one of the few opportunities in this day and age to feast on high-fat foods without disgrace.

Potato latkes (pancakes) are delicious, but they're only one of the culinary traditions associated with Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish holiday that begins at sundown Tuesday. Cheese also has long been part of the holiday's tradition. Hanukkah celebrates the miracle that occurred after a successful revolt led by Judah the Maccabee, who ousted the Syrian forces of King Antiochus in 165 B.C. As the Jews began the task of purifying the desecrated Temple in Jerusalem, they found only enough untainted oil to keep the menorah (candelabra)

Just before sundown on Friday, Dec. 22, Jews will mark the beginning of Hanukkah by lighting the first candle on the holiday menorah (candleholder). The eight-day-long celebration recalls an ancient victory and the miracle that followed. In 165 B.C.E. (Before Common Era), according to Rabbi Yosef Schanowitz, director of the North Suburban Lubavitch Chabad, a Jewish army led by Judah Maccabee defeated the Syrians, drove them from the hills of Judea and recaptured the Temple. "When the Jews went to rekindle the ceremonial lights," Schanowitz continues, "they had only enough oil to fuel them for a single day. But the lights stayed lit until more oil arrived eight days later, a miracle commemorated by the lighting of one additional candle on each night of the holiday."

At sundown Tuesday, the eight-day festival of Hanukkah will begin in homes of Jews around the world, including 250,000 in the Chicago area, with the lighting of the candles in a menorah, a traditional nine-branched candle holder. Traditions of Hanukkah-a home-focused "feast of dedication" centering around lighting a different candle on the menorah and exchanging gifts each day for eight days-are praised by rabbis, although most of them stress that this is a minor religious holiday.

When Jews light candles Friday night to mark the beginning of Hanukkah, they will be celebrating perhaps history's first struggle for religious freedom, says Rabbi Ira Youdovin, leader of Congregation Am Chai in Hoffman Estates. "The Syrian-Greeks sought to impose their way of life on the Jews and they rebelled and said no," said Youdovin. Hanukkah, which means "dedication" in Hebrew, refers to the dedication of the temple that took place after it was recovered from the Syrian-Greeks or Seleucids, led by Antiochus IV. Antiochus invaded Jerusalem and desecrated the temple.

In the midst of home-holiday Jewish traditions such as menorahs, dreidels and latkes, the eight-day Hanukkah "feast of lights" here is also offering community parties for schoolchildren, senior adults and members of the newest Jewish immigrant community to call Chicago their home. On Sunday, Spertus College of Judaica and the Spertus Museum, 618 S. Michigan Ave., will open their doors for a free party, featuring holiday-wrapped children's books as gifts for youngsters in families of newly arrived Soviet Jews.

Stanislav Umansky raises a tumbler of vodka to his lips in a tri-lingual toast. "L`chaim," he says in Hebrew, then, in Russian, "Na zdorov`e." "To life, to health," explains Umansky in halting English. And welcome to Hanukkah, Eastern European style, on North Kenmore Avenue. The latkes you eat here would taste no better in Kiev. These thin potato pancakes, a Hanukkah staple for centuries, are trademarks of a festive, eight-day celebration that begins this year at sundown on Dec. 7. According to legend, wives of Maccabean soldiers fried flat pancakes for their husbands before battle against Hellenistic successors of Alexander the Great.

Only three shopping weeks till Hanukkah! This year, Hanukkah begins shortly after sundown on Saturday, Dec. 3. For eight days thereafter, Jews will recall an ancient victory and the miracle that followed. "When the Jews, led by Judah Maccabee, returned to the temple after the final battle, they found only enough oil to fuel the ceremonial lights for one day," explains Rabbi Yosef Schanowitz, director of the North Suburban Lubavitch Chabad. "Miraculously, the lights stayed lit until more oil arrived eight days later.